1. Field
The following description relates to an automatic anthropometer for measuring human height.
2. Description of the Related Art
Human height is the distance from the bottom of the feet to the top of the head in a human body standing erect, and it is regarded as a representative measurement showing the length of a body or the status of the growth and development of the body. For measuring height, a manual or an automatic anthropometer is used. A general automatic anthropometer measures height of a user using a head-touch bar that descends along a vertical post by driving a motor until it touches the head of the user. When the head-touch bar touches the head of the user, an electrical signal is output from a contact detection sensor embedded in the head-touch bar, and at the time of outputting the electrical signal, the height of the user is measured and displayed based on current position information of the head-touch bar.
However, the above described general automatic anthropometer includes a vertical post which is assembled by an exterior case and a guiding rail for guiding a head-touch bar in the exterior case, and thus it is rather complicated in structure. Thus, such complicated structure may be difficult in terms of maintenance.
Moreover, when the head-touch bar is ascending and descending along the vertical post, the vertical post guides the head-touch bar, preventing it from being slid off of the post. For example, if the maximum measurable height of the automatic anthropometer is 2000 mm, the vertical post must be longer than 2000 mm and must fixedly stand vertically to a foot board, and the head-touch bar ascends up to the height of 2000 mm without sliding off the top of the post.
In this case, since the vertical post is fixed to stand vertically to the base, having a length greater than the maximum measurable height, it occupies a large space for storage, and is inconvenient to move. Furthermore, in the case of moving the automatic anthropometer for mobile medical services in, for example, government and public offices and schools, it may be difficult to carry the automatic anthropometer by a vehicle due to its length.